Chapter 1838 - 1838. Bait

Noah filled the insides of the raging storms with attacks sent through the Shadow Domain. Lord Lewis' domain and flares continued to transform and destroy his dark matter, but his assault was relentless.

Noah never stopped. He didn't care that his reserves of energy were growing dangerously short. He had even forgotten about the monsters fighting in the sky above him. His thoughts only concerned defeating his first rank 9 existence on his own.​​

Still, Lord Lewis' energy appeared endless, and his domain continued to be a major pain for Noah since he lacked a proper counter. All his abilities only allowed him to buy time against that technique.

The raging storms appeared as a terrifying monster, but Lord Lewis slowly took care of them and transformed all the dark matter into a white sea. The expert had succeeded while Noah had continued to launch his attacks through the Shadow Domain.

The result of the exchange seemed to point toward a simple conclusion. Noah could clearly hold his ground against a rank 9 cultivator, but defeating an expert at that level seemed too much even for him.

The fundamental gap between their abilities was too large. Noah had to go all-out just to match or pierce techniques that his opponent saw as normal. Lord Lewis' law was even hard to face for Noah's existence.

Noah couldn't completely give up on the fight, especially since Lord Lewis had clearly suffered from the recent offensive. The expert's skin had more holes than intact spots, blood filled the entirety of his figure, and his aura had even grown unstable. Still, he had no problem standing, and his existence slowly stabilized to bring his domain to its peak.

Heaven and Earth tried to illuminate Lord Lewis again, but a shadow appeared under the shining pillar before it could reach the expert. The figure then pierced that white structure and covered its trail with a dark substance that almost reached the sky.

Night reappeared in the sky after it destroyed the pillar. Its peculiar figure almost disappeared among the faint light that managed to get past the storms, but darkness slowly spread from its lines.

'I'll handle the light,' Night confirmed through the mental connection before raising its head when it saw that another pillar was about to fall on the expert.

Duanlong came out of Noah's separate space on its own and flew toward the Pterodactyl. It wasn't its intention to help the creature. The dragon only wanted to absorb energy for Noah.

'Now,' Noah thought as his gaze fell on the powerful expert, 'How do I kill him?'

Lord Lewis revealed a gruesome smile when he saw that the two companions were cutting away his chances to recover. He didn't care that Heaven and Earth couldn't heal him. After all, his opponent wasn't a rank 9 existence. Defeating him was only normal. In his mind, the best Noah could do was buying time until his existence ran out of energy.

Noah's mindset had started to grow unstable due to the many attacks launched with the cursed sword. He had burnt chaotic laws to heal his physical injuries while the raging storms still filled the area, but his mind only had the black hole on its side.

The bloodl.u.s.t radiated by Noah's figure almost took the shape of dense scarlet mental waves. Part of his unfolded consciousness had changed color due to the mass of violent thoughts that filled his mind. He was approaching his limit, but the Demonic Deduction technique was also becoming more effective.

"How can you be so strong?" Lord Lewis asked when he saw that Noah didn't attack. "I honestly don't get it. Does your power come from Heaven and Earth? Are you like the empty creatures that have tried to invade the higher plane?"

Noah felt actually surprised that Lord Lewis knew about the events with the empty monster, but he soon realized that probably every expert in the ninth rank living in the sky could directly gaze downward to keep track of the world.

Moreover, they had to have a tighter connection with Heaven and Earth. Every rank 9 cultivator in the sky had to be relatively important to the rulers, so there was a high chance that their network of information surpassed everything that Noah had ever seen.

"Do you think that I'm good because Heaven and Earth made a mistake?" Noah asked while inspecting the Demonic Sword. "My achievements wouldn't be the result of my efforts then. I would only be one of the many talented existences in the world. I'm the strongest only because no one can match my backing."

"Exactly," Lord Lewis laughed. "Everything you are is in direct opposition to Heaven and Earth in the end. It would explain how the bastard son of a small family has managed to reach these heights."

Lord Lewis was trying to drag Noah into a trap with his words. It didn't matter if he managed to confuse or cause doubts inside him. The expert would benefit from both outcomes.

Instead, Noah was only buying time. His Demonic Deduction technique was working at full speed. He could already think of a few ways to kill his opponent, but they all involved attacks that the world had yet to see. He preferred to keep them a secret as long as possible to avoid eventual counters.

Still, that appeared impossible in that situation. Noah would reach his limit before Lord Lewis, so he couldn't wear him out with many techniques.

"I haven't thought about that since my life in the Mortal Lands," Noah revealed. "I know that it's the only logical conclusion, but that's the whole point, right? My power isn't logical, which might be why you can't beat me."

"Your arrogance is blinding you," Lord Lewis laughed as his domain continued to expand.

The ground and the air transformed into white energy that started to rotate around his figure. Lord Lewis' law resembled Divine Demon's, even if his abilities relied more on sheer power than different techniques.

Lord Lewis was clearly preparing to launch a massive attack, but Noah was in the same situation. He only had to decide what to reveal to the world.

"I thought it to be arrogance at first too," Noah laughed, "But Heaven and Earth tried to stop me so often that I started to believe in myself. What I say turns out to be right, and my mere words have even become able to alter the nature of things. You might have avoided becoming a lapdog if you had my confidence."

"You are delusional," Lord Lewis shook his head. "Did you lose too much blood?"

"I swear that it's true!" Noah announced while pointing at a spot above the expert's head. "Look, I know that a giant dragon will appear above your head and kill you with a single attack. I said it, so you can be sure that it will happen."

"What kind of delirious-," Lord Lewis scoffed, but a powerful aura suddenly appeared above his head and made him look at the spot pointed by Noah.

A large crack opened in the sky, and Shafu's giant body came out of it. The creature was so big that it covered the entire mountain. It actually had to stay above Night and Duanlong to have enough space.

"What does this even prove?" Lord Lewis asked, but two blades suddenly cut away his head.

His body and centers of power still worked, so he quickly moved to pick them. Yet, Noah materialized next to him and cut everything into a thousand pieces.

The expert seemed still alive even in his condition, and Heaven and Earth struggled harder than ever to reach the surface and rebuild him. Shafu had created the perfect bait, but Noah had yet to kill the expert. However, if he had to be true to his mind, part of him wanted to study him first.